Downtown Tallahassee business owners say broken windows, public drunkenness and bodily fluids on sidewalks have become the cost of doing business.

Now, a proposed expansion of the Capitol’s security perimeter could push those problems straight into the hands of Capitol Police.

The Downtown Business Association of Tallahassee, coordinated by lobbyist Barney Bishop III, met Jan. 16 in response to legislation (HB 975, SB 1108). It would expand the Capitol Complex’s security perimeter north to Park Avenue from Jefferson Street and West Pensacola Street, which separate Tallahassee City Hall from the Capitol.

The bills call for development of an “enhanced security” plan to “address crime and vagrancy in the streets surrounding the Capitol Complex.” They would also create six full-time positions for an “outreach policing community group within the Capitol Police” to include “patrolling the Capitol Complex and surrounding areas.”

Previous coverage: Capitol Police could expand Tallahassee reach to target crime, vagrancy

Downtown offices have long dealt with public drunkenness, with many culprits being college students going to bars, but there is also an ongoing problem with vagrancy, including some who congregate and sleep in the Downtown Chain of Parks.

Barry Shields, general manager of the Governors Club on Adams Street, wrote a letter to the Tallahassee Democrat saying downtown businesses would “welcome the opportunity of having the Capitol Police involved with helping to make downtown safer and more enjoyable.” He also was at the meeting.

Shields said he has “witnessed excessive amounts of property damage and disorderly conduct, most of the time coming from inebriated individuals coming and going from some of the local watering holes. In my opinion, these individuals consist mostly of overserved and underage college kids in search of a good time.”

Bishop invited representatives from the local law enforcement, as well as Ashley Chaney from the Hayward House restaurant, also along Adams Street, among others.

“Local business suffer thousands of dollars in damage: Windows are broken, landscaping is destroyed, urine and vomit left behind on the sidewalks, medical responders are frequently called to the scene to treat passed out individuals for suspected alcohol poisoning,” Bishop said.

Those in attendance suggested such possible solutions as installing more trash cans or adding a public bathroom outside City Hall. Others asked for increased city police presence. Moreover, the idea of civil citations was brought up to target students without creating a criminal record.

The conversation, however, was without some high-profile faces who were asked to come: Mayor John E. Dailey sent aide Dionte Gavin in his stead. Leon County Commission chair Christian Caban, who also has an ownership interest in Clydes and Costello’s, said he had a family matter to deal with. And representatives of Florida State University were reportedly invited but at the last minute said they couldn’t attend.

Bishop, who is the immediate past president of the association’s board, said his aim is not punishment but keeping downtown as a place for everybody.

“This is an opportunity for working with the city and the county, working with the Capitol Police, to make this a safer venue for tourists, for legislators, for their families, for lobbyists, for students, young business people, old business people,” he said.

Arianna Otero is the trending and breaking news reporter for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact her via email at AOtero@tallahassee.com and follow her on X: @ari_v_otero.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Urine, vomit, broken windows plague downtown Tallahassee, locals say